Process and apparatus for sizing or classifying comminuted materials.



H. M. SUTTON L W. L. & E. G. STEELE. PROCESS AND APPARATUS POR sIzING 0R GLASSIFYING GO'JIMINUTED M ATPRIALS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.22,1914

H. M. SUTTON L W. L. L E. G. STEELE. PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR SIZING OR CLASSIFYING OQMMINUTBD MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.22,1914.

H. M. SUETON & W. L. da E. G. STEELE. PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR SZING 0R GLASSIPYING GOMMINU'LED MATERIALS.

APPLICATlON FILED JAN. 22. 19111.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

3 SHEETS-.SHEET 3.

'im um,

tiNTTET) STATES PATENT OFFTGE.

HENRY M. S'TTON, WALTER L. STEELE, AND EDWTN Gr. STEELE, 0F DALLAS, TEXAS.

l Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 27, 1914.

Application led January 22, 1914. Serial No. 813,716.

To ail 'io/10m, it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRYVM. SUTTON,

NVAL'rnu L. STEELE, and EDWIN G. qrnnnn, citizens or the United States, residing atr Dallas, iin the county of Dallas and State of rTexas, have inventedcertain new and useful' Improvements in `Processes of and Appara-- tus for Sizing or ClassifyingComminuted Materials, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This inventionfielates to a process of and an apparatus 4tonsizing `or classifying cornminuted material, and is in the nature ot' an 'improvement upon our pending application Serial Number 780,360, filed July 21, 1913; the object being to provide novel means for vibrating the endless belt or deck in order to impart to the particles thereon, an accel crated movement in the direction of their natural travel by gravity.

Another object of the/invention is to provide an agitating means -for the endlessA belt or deck in the form of an angular bar having tapering faces increasing in Width from the upper end toward the lower end, whereby the vibration of the belt or deck will be increased from the upper edge to the lower edge in order to impart the accelerated mo vement to the particles thereon.

Another and further object of the invention to provide means' for imparting a constant accelerated movement to the particles in the direction oi' their nati-ual travel by gravity or at right angles or approximately so, to that ot' their travel with the belt,.in order to allow the particles in one particular zone to clear the way for the particles just above whereby each particle in every zone, is allowed more freedom of movement in. order to increase the eifectiveness` of the sizing apparatus.

Another andfurther object of the invention is to provide a continuously movings'upporting sui-tace with agitating means which imparts to 'the surface, an undulatory move ment in '/.oucs extending transversely across the supporting surface in order to allow the particles in each zone to more clearly dilferentiatc themselves from vthose of the adjacent zone, each zone being vibrated in such a .manner that the particles will travel contiguousl;y across the supporting surface with free movement, thereby allowing the appa ratus to carry ont the process of separating comminuted material at a greater speed than the apparatus previously constructed.-

Another object of the invention is to provides a roughened sizing surface whose resistance in the direction of the flow of the material by gravity increases progressively and iii-the same direction' as does the increase in the vibrations in order to constantly check the tendency of the particles vtoward racing or bouncing along the surface which would be fatal to good sizing; the vibration increasing in intensity in proper proportion to the increasing resistance in order to give the fiowing pulp a proper accelerated movement.

Ve are aware that apparatuses have been constructed for separating seed and the like, in which a transversely inclined continuously moving belt o rsuppoit has been provided with agitating means for separating the round seed from the flat seed, but in this class of separator, the material is not separated according to volume of the particles without regard to sha )e or diti'erence in specific gravity, or in ot ier words, particles that are square or flat have the same volumetric dimensions as round or oval ones, or any other shape, as is the case with our process ot' separating connninuted material. This can be thoroughly explained by comparing'the action of rolling particles down the inclined surface where the particles are free to move independently of the action of any of' the other particles, other than the surface over whichtney are rolling such` as takes place with seed separators now in use having inclined `continuously moving surfaces. In* this class of machine, if a round and flat particle are started down an' inclined surface, the round particle will outdistance the flat one in speed and arrive at the bottom of 'the inclined' surface ahead of the lat one. With our appa atlisantl process of separating connninuted material in which theparticles are separated according to volume, if a mixture of comminuted inaL terial having ditierent volumetric' dimensions, is placed on a continuously moving roughened inclined surface which is being vibrated, these particles have a restricted iield of action `influenced by the surface over which they arc traveling and their relative amount of friction with cach other and a l to volume, because in this class of seed sep` sizing action takes place accordinv to the volume of each particle, and while it is essential in this process, to give the particles an accelerated movement while they travel across a continuously moving surface, it must be clearly understoodthat 'these particles are restricted in relation to the slope of such surface and their restrictions with each other, so that they do not race or bounce along said surface, but by the general vibra? tionof the surface, move gently down the sizing surface in Zones. tant dierential feature over any formof seed separator in the prior art which has for itsobject, the separation of various cereals or seeds strictly in regard to shape and not arator, each seed must be allowed such eX- treme freedom that it does not come into contact with any other seed orv in other words, the spherical seeds do not come into contact with the seeds of `irregular shape. Otherwise, their motion would be arrested and the process defeated, as they allow the round cereals to race or bounce on the sur-v face to avoid the flat or irregular-shaped seeds while with our process, the particles of comminuted material are subjected to a resistance partly influenced by the surface andv partly by the close association of the particles with one another, and while with our process, we call for an accelerated movement of the particles in order to carry out our process uponi our sizing apparatus, these particles always move in restricted paths; each particle being bounded on all sides by its fellow particles so as to allow only a restricted field of movement in order that each zone is imparted with a constantly accelerated movement, the particles of which move in unison contiguous to one another and do not race or bounce upon the separating surface.

From the above statement, it will be seen that our process of and apparatus for siz-l ing comminuted material is diiferentiated from apparatuses and process as hereinbefore employed by subjecting the particles upon a continuously moving roughened surface', to an undulatory movement, in order to impart an agitation to the material from z under the surface which increases in in,- tensity at an angle tothe travel of the particles with the surface, whereby the particles are subjected to an accelerated 'movelhis is an, imporand the novel features thereof Vdefined by the appended claims. l

ln' the drawings Figure l, isa perspective of an apparatus 4for carrying out our improved-piiocess for sizing commmuted material; Fig. 2, lean elevationoftlieendless agitating ro1lers;`Fig. is "a transverse enlargedsection through the supporting surface or dec-lr,- -showing the agitating roller and in dotted lines, the movement imparted 'supporting 'surface or deck, 'showing the to said surface or deck vby the rotation of saidv roller,..-v whch increases in .intensity fromvthe'upper edge toward the lower edge in order to impart the accelerated -movement to the particles thereong'F ig. V4c, is a Side,

elevation of the roller, detached; Fig. 5, is

an end elevation; Fig. 6, isa transversesec-v tion through the 'corrugated belt having longitudinally arranged il-shaped grooves formed therein which gradually increase in depth toward its lower edge; Fig. 7, is a transverse section through a slightly modilied form of the belt; the corrugations and 'F0 lines which increase in depth toward the grooves of which are formed upon curved lower edge thereof; the .rounded grooves formed thereby offering less resistanceto the material in its movement over the same than the straight-sided grooves, as shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8, is adetail transverse section of a slightly modified form of apparatus for carrying out the process of sizing comminuted material in which the,4 .deck frame is pivotally mounted at its upper ico edge and supported upon a rod carried by an eccentric at its lower edge forming means for agitating the deck or supporting surface vertically in order to cause the deck to rise and fall as the 'eccentric is reyolved in such a manner that the particles `upon the A. 1 deck will be subjected to an accelerated.

movement at an angle to the" direction of travel of the surface, whereby the'pa'rticles upon the surface will be subjected to an agitation which increases in intensity from the upper edge to the lower edge.V Fig. 9,- I is a transverse section through an apparatus l.

showing one means of supporting the deck frame in order to change the inclination thereof; Fig. l0, is a perspective of a belt'A having longitudinally arranged formed therein; and Fig. 11, is a perspective Aof a belt having diagonally arranged corrugations.

Like numerals of reference referto like parts` in the 'several figures of the drawings.

In the preferred form of apparatuses shown, 1 indicates a deck frame which is preferably adjustably supported as shown in Fig. 9 by depending curved slotted arms lxt through Which extend threaded studs lb carried by theframe 1C supported on the base 1d; the studs being provided with hand grooves Wheels ,1 for elamping.. said arms in i their adjusted position, the Vopposite sideof the deck frame` being connectedy to the frame 1by..hingesonsuitable.pivots 1f, in order 5 that .theainclination of thedeck frame can bereadily adjusted so asv to `allow the process rif-.classifying comminuted material to be. carried fout successfully` and; while `the degreeof .inclinationunaybe varied, we do. lgnot wish to limit ourselves to any, particular..

construction ofY supporting tor mounting this decltframe, as various. forms; can be` used n withoutdeparting from the spirit 'of our invention.

The,.deck.,frame .l is provided with.. suitablembearings., at each `end in .which 4are mounted shafts .2 and 3 carrying Arollers -i and 5 over which is arranged, an endless belt ,6, preferably formed of rubberlor some zowsuitable flexible. material having diagonally or. longitudinally arranged corrugations preferably increasing in sizeirom kthe upper edge toward the lower-edgein order to pro 'vide a roughened sizing'. surface which has a Al,prog fressively increasing-.resistance to the particles of comminuted` material delivered thereon in the direction. of the flow of the material by gravity.`

In the form of corrugated belt as showny ,in Fig. G,\the grooves Aformed therein are substantially V-shape in cross section and it will benoted that they gradually increase in depth from .the upper edge of the belt toward the-lower edge. which exerts a greater f resistance to the material thereon in its movement by gravity. The shaft 3 is provided with an extension carrying va pulley 7 over which passes a belt 8x which is driven by a changespeed mechanism 9,* in order .that the speed of `travel of the belt can be regulated, the` form ot' change-speed mecha nism being the well-known 'form of changespeed meclnmism now in use.

Mounted -intermediate the shafts l and 5 in the deck frame l, are a series of shafts Sl carrying angular tapering rollers 9 preferably hcxagon in cross section, having faces which increase in width from the upper portion to the lower portion, thesefaces be ing normaily held in contact with the under 'surface of the deck or belt (3 sothat when they are rotated, the belt will be sub jected toan undulatory moven'ient in order that the same may he agitated insuch a manner that the intensity-of agitation will be increased from the upper edge toward the lower edge, whereby the particles will Ybe subjected to yan accelerated movement 'atan angle to the movement of the .cons 5o.j.tinuously moving belt :or` supporting surface. Thesh'afts 8 extend outwardly be- "yond the up erside bar of the, frame 1 and are provide withbeveled gears 10 Whlcn mesh with.l beveled .geene 11carriedby a 65. longitudinally arranged-` Shaft 12, which, 1s

preferably A supportedby the deck frame in orderthat the lrame may be moved so as to hold the coperating gears in mesh as the inclination or the supporting surface is adjustedV andwhile the supporting means for the shaft Aherein shown, is not disclosed, it

is of course understood thatv suitable bearings can be. extended. from the trame for this purpose.` It will be seen'that by connectingieaOh-Shaft carrying the; roller to a driving means rotating upon a shaft, all of the..angnlarrollers will be rotated in unison in 'orderjto .impart `to the traveling inclined supporting. surface, an agitation arranged inaones.extending transversely ,across the cording to.volume and not purely to shape.`

One end of the shaft 12 carries a pulley 13 over which passes a belt 14 carried by a change-speed mechanism 15r constructed substantiallythe same as the change-speed mechanism 9X whereby the speed ol' the' shaft 12 can be adjusted in order to increase or. decrease the speed ot' travel of the agitating rollers to suit the class of comminuted material being sized upon the apparatus, as with certain classes of comminutcd material` a greater speedl oit' vibration is desired than with other classes and by having separate driving mechanism for the continuously moving belt and the agitating means, these can be adjusted independently.

A gate-controlled hopper 16 is carried by a suitable support and is so. arranged that comminutcd material is delivered uponthe upper edge of the belt or deck at the receiving end and material delivered therefrom is at once subjected to the sizing action of the belt, the belt carrying thepulverulent material which is too` fine to move by gravity along with the run of the belt, the larger particles which d iiferentiate according to volume, at once starting to more in zones transversely of the belt.

Arranged along the lower edge of. Vthe belt frame and extending slightly under the edge of the belt, is an inclined apron 1T adapted to receive the particles sized or.

classificdby the endless belt and said apron is provided with a longitudinally centrally arranged bar 18'spaced therefrom and uu der which are arranged deflecting or spacing. fingers 19 which are preferably held in adjusted position by frictonal contact cxerted thereon by springs 12) carried by said fingers and while we have shown this particular construction of linger, it is oi course understood that we do not wish to limit belt and with this construction of sizing lap-v paratus it hasbeen found by increasing the speed ofthe belt to increase the capacity ofthe apparatus, a sizing action occurs at the end of thebelt, making it necessary to place the apron and deflecting lingers in this position.

'ln the rform of belt shown in Fig. 7, we provide a roughened surface X having diagonally or longitudinally arranged corrugations, the grooves and ribs formed thereby being formed' upon curved lines in order to decrease "the resistance; the grooves formed thereby gradually increasing ini depth from the upper edge toward the lower edge thereof. l

ln the apparatus shown in Fig. '8, we employ a deck frame 2e pivotally mounted as shown at 25 at an inclination, having a 'bearing 26 at its lower end on which is mounted a pitman rod 27, carried by an eccentric 28 mounted upon a Ishaft 29 provided with a pulley 30 over which the drive belt 3l passes. The frame carries a roller 3l at eachend, over which the endless belt or deck '32 passes andthis deck or belt is likewise .provided with diagonally or longitudinally arranged 'corrugations to form a resistance and by the movement of the eccentric, the belt is given agreater perpendicular movement at its lower edge than at its upper edge, whereby a constantly accelerated speed is imparted to the particles traveling across the same in the line of their natural movement by gravity and while we have shown an eccentric, it is of course understood vthat a crank could be employed or any other suitable driving means, for giving the deck frame a greater movement at 1 its lower edge than at its upper edge.-

veo

In the operation4 of the apparatus for carrying out the process for sizing comminuted material, the belt or deck is driven continu- `ously at'the desired rate of speed and the agitating rollers are likewise driven at the desired rate of speed, the speed of the belt and rollers being first determined by the nature of the material to be sized and when the gate of the hopper is opened, comminuted material will be delivered upon the endless roughened sizing surface at a point X and referringv to Fig. l,v the shaped lines indicate the travel of the particles in the Zones according to the volumetric dimensions thereof; the Yletters A to lil inclusive, indicating the different zones of the respective particles and .it will be noted that the particles in the Zone A are enabled to move with such freedom as to more clearly differentiate themselves from the particles of the zone B and so on throughout the different zones at a diminished rate of,vibration toward each'zone. ln this manner, each class of particles partakes of more freedom olf motion than would be possible if the belt was simply vibrated by angular rollers having the vsame dimension throughout their length.

In order to clearly set forth the fundamental principle for carrying out or improved process of sizing comminuted material, by giving the continuously moving sizing surface a continuously increasing vibration -commencing aty the upper edgeof-said surface and extending transversely across the same' in the direction ofv the natural movement of the particles by gravity and at the same time subjecting said particles in their movement by gravity, to a progressively 'increasing resistance, 4a greater efficiency in the sizing of the particles is obtained as well asa greater capacity. `rlhis is accomplished by giving the particles an. accelerated movement in the line ofvtheir natural travel by gravity or transversely of the continuously moving surface, which'enables each class of particles in a given zone to free itself from comminuted ore, it will work equally well upon any comminuted material as'the fundamental principle of this invention, is to provide a roughened continuously moving l transversely inclined supporting surfacefor the material which 'when on said surface, is subjected to an acceleratcdmovement in' the direction of travel by gravityV causing the particles thereon, to move contiguous to one anotherl in ,their move.ri1e11t` at an anglel 'i to the movement of the roughened continuously moving supporting surface.

be seenthat, wehave provided an apparatus `for. sizing comminuted material in lwhich a A continuously moving lendless belt is employed having corrugationsarranged atan 125 From the foregoing description, itjWill angle to the movement ot' the belt; said belt being arranged upon an incline in order to subject the particles deliwred thereon, to the force of gravity, means being provided for agitating the belt to increase the speed ot travel by gravity, said corrugations forming a resistance to the material against the force of gravity to cause the particles in their movement by gravity, to travel contiguously with one another.

In the description, We have described an apparatus of such a construction that a belt can be employedtliereoii with diagonally or longitudinally arranged corrugations and it has been found in practice that when operating .on certain classes of material, that a belt having diagonally arranged corrugaticns obtains better results than a belt having longitudinally arranged corrugations; the :fundamental principle of this. invention being to exert a resistance to the particles in their movement by gravity to cause the particles to travel contiguoiisly with one another so as to overcome the tendency of the particles to race -or bounce in their movement over the surface, and We do not wish to limit ourselves to any particular construction.of apparatus, as various forms of apparatus can be employed Without departing from the spirit of our invention.

le claim:

1. The process of sizing a mass of pulveru'flent material, consisting in feeding the material dry upon a continuously rmoving transversely inclined roughcned supporting surface, imparting to said mass an accelerated movement in the direction of its travel by g avity, causing the components of said mass to deviate from the line of normal movement contiguously at angles proportionate to their sizes, and separately collecting the sized particles'. Q. The process 'of sizing a mass of comminuted material, consisting in feeding the material dry upon a continuouslyI moving transversely :inclined roughenedsupporting surface, 'imparti-ng to saidmaterial an accelerated movement at an angle to the continuoils movement thereof, causing the components of the mass to deviate from the line of normal movement at angles proportionate to their sizes, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

3. The process ofsizing material, which consists in feeding unsized comminuted material to acontinuously moving' conveying..

surface, subjecting said material to the force of gravity at an angleto the continuous movement ofsaid surface, subjecting said material to a series of vibrations from belovv, said vibrations increasing -in intensity fromthe .point of feed transversely across the conveying surface, to cause an accelerated movement of the' particles thereon in lines deviating according to sizes of the par? licles from the lineot normal movement, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

Zl. The process of 'sizing consisting in su pporting and .continuously moving unsized `coniminuted.material upon a surface having `a progressively increasing resistance. subjecting said material to the force'ot' gravity and to an undulatory vibration to cause the :particles to travel in lines deviating accord-` ing to sizes of the particles from the lilies of normal movement, and separately collecting lthe thus sized particles.

5. The process of sizing materiahconsisting in feeding uns-ized comminuted material iipon a continuously moving roughencd surtace, subjecting said material tothe vl'orce of gravity and to an undulato'ry movement to cause ,the particles to travel according to their volumetric dimensions at different rates of speed inlines deviating from the line of nr- .mal movement of said material, and separately (.vollecting the thus sized particles.

6. The process of sizing a mass oi' com' minuted material according to its volumetric dimensions, consisting' in continuously'inoi :ng unsized commi: -itcd material,

'subjecting said material to the force olf gravymovement in the directional travel by gravity, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

7. .A sizing apparatus, comprising an inclined endless deck having diagonally arranged corrugations forming a dellecting resistance against the force of gravity, change-speed mechanism for driving said deck, means for imparting undulatory vibra tions to said surface, and means 'for separately collecting the sized particles delivered from said surface.

8. A sizing apparatus, comprising a continuously moving inclined deck having longitudinally arranged dellecting resistance members, angular rollers arranged under said deck lier'vibrating the same, means for driving said rollers in unison, and changespced mechanism for driving said deck.

9. In an apparatusfor classifying commii nuted material, the combination with a coni tinnously moving deck, of spaced angular rollers arranged under said deck having graduated faces, and means for driving said rollers in unison.

Y l0. In an apparatus for classifying comminutedmaterial, the combination with a continuously moving inclined deck, of tapering angular rollers arranged under said deck,

tating said surface, With agi-tationsincreas.`

ing in intensity at an angle to the travel of said surface and inthe direction of travel ofV the material by gravity.

12.` A sizing apparatus, comprising 'a frame, an endless belt mounted y in said frame, tapering angular rollers arranged unf ders'aid belt, and means for driving saidtapering angular rollers in unison so as to gravity, and impartinglto saidmaterialan limpart to said belt vibrations increasing in intensity transversely thereof.

13. A sizing apparatus, comprising a deck frame, rollers mounted in said frame', a .flexible belt having a roughened surface mounted upon said rollers, shafts mounted in said frame, ta'peringfangular rollers mounted;

upon said shaft contacting with the under surface of said belt, gears carried by said shaft, a driven shaft carrying gears meshing ewitli -said gea-rs,- and" a' chang e-speedl mecha- "f nism for driving said driven shaft.- f

fname, a continuously moving` deck inountcd.

said frame, means'or supporting said 'deck at an inclination transversely, a series lofrtaperin'g angular rollers arranged under said deck/frame having :faces increasing in' Width from the upper edge of said deck to the lower edge of said deck. n

17. The process of sizing material, consisting in 'continuously moving -un'sized com-A minuted material inone direction, subject' ing said'material to the force of gravity and to a; progressively increasing resistance' in the direction of the iovv of the material by accelerated movement inl the direction of travel by gravity, to cause said particlesto travel in lines deviating according to size of the particles from the saidimaterial.'

18. The process of sizing'comminuted material, consistinglinvfeeding a mixture of said material toa transversely.inclined'continuouslyiiioviiig support, imparting to. said particles 'an"acceleratefil movement in the direction of their` natural' travelf by gravity, subjecting said material in its movement by gravity to a progressively increasing resistance, and vseparately collecting the graded particles. j

19. The process of sizing comminuted material, consisting in feeding 'amixture of` said material to a 'transversely inclined connormal movement of' rimase tinuously moving progressively increasing roughened surface, imparting to said partie" cles in transversely extending zones, an accelerated movement in the direction of their natural travel by gravity, and separately,

collecting the thus separated particles. 20. The process of sizing a mass of comminutedmaterial, consisting in continuously moving saidmaterial upon a roughened supporting surface having a progressively increasin resistance, subjecting said material to thA orce of gravity and to an accelerated movementin the direction of travel by gravity, to cause the diderent components to tra-vel according to their volumetric dimen- Vvs'ioii's at different rates taf speed in lines deviating from the lines of continuous movement of said material, ,and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

21. rllhe process of sizing a mass of comvminut/ed material, consisting in feeding said -`material upon a continuously moving inclined irregularly roughened supporting sui'- face, subjecting said material to an accelerated movement in the direction of travel by gravity, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

122. The process of sizing a mass of comminuted'material, consisting in supporting' and continuously moving said material upon an inclined roughened surface having a d1- agonally progressively increasing deiiecting resistance, subjecting said material to the force of gravity and to an undulatory vibra tion to cause the particles to travel in lines deviating from the lines of normal movement, and separately collecting the thus sized.

particles.

23. |The process of sizing a mass of unsized particles, consisting in subjecting said particles when moving in a continuous direction to a progressively increasing resistancel and to the action or vibrations varied in their intensity in lines -transversely of the continuous movement of said material, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

V24. The process of sizing comminuted material,jcons'isting in continuously moving increasing, resistance in its movement by gravity, imparting vto said material, an accelerated movement inthe direction oftravel by gravity,4 and `separately collecting the thussized particles. Y

- 25. A sizing apparatus, comprising an inclined endless deck having diagonally ar.- ranged corrugations forming a progressively increasing deflecting resistance against t-lie force of gravity, means for driving said deck,

vmeans for vibrating said deck, and means for separately collecting the sized n particles delivered from said surface.

the materialin one direction., subjecting said ,material to the 'action of gravity in a direc tion transverse to the continuous movement, subjecting said material to a progressivelyV 4arrasar from the upper edge toward the lower edge thereof, mechanism for driving said deck continuously, mechanism for imparting to said deck a series of lspaced undulatory vi brations, and driving means for said vibrat ing means.

27. In an apparatus for classifying com minuted material, the combination WithV a continuously moving transversely inclined decl: having a sizing surface providedwith corrugations graduallyfincreasing in slze..

from the upper edge toward the lower edge thereof, of spaced angular rollersarranged underlsaid deck lhaving graduated faces, and

means for driving said rollcrsin unison.

28. In an apparatus'for classifying comminuted material, the combination-With a continuously moving transversely inclined deck, having an irregular 4corrugated surface, of tapering angular rollers arranged under said deck, and means for driving said rollers in unison. i

29. The process of sizing a mass of comminutcd material, consistingin supporting said material upon a continuously moving roughened transversely inclined support having a progressively increasing resisting surface, subjecting said material to graduated vibrations increasing in intensity in lines extending transversely ,of said surface, and means for separately collecting the thus sized particles.

30. The process of sizing a mass of comminutcd material,consisting in continuously moving said material upon a transversely inclined supporting surface having a progressively increasing--resistance tothe material in the direction of flow by gravity, imparting to said material an' accelerated movement in lines extending` transversely of said surface, and means for separately collecting the'thus sized particles.- j

3l. lA. sizing apparatus having a continuously moving inclined deck, s aid ldeck hav-V ing asurface provided With .longitudinally arr: nged gradually increasing corrugations, and mea-ns for vibratingr said surface in lines extending transversely of said surface.

. 32. The process of sizing comminutcd material, consisting in supporting said material upon a continuously moving transversely inclined surface having longitudinally arrangedl corrugations forming a progres' sively increasing resistance to the material in its travel by gravity upon said surface, and subjecting said material in its movement upon said surface to a series of graduated vibrations extending transversely of said surface.

33; Thelprocess of sizing comminutcd material, consisting in feeding a mixture of said material to. a transversely inclined continuously moving supporting surface, imparting to said particles in transversely extending zones, an accelerated movement in the direction of their natural. travel by gravity, subjecting said particles to 'a progressively increasingr deflccting resistance in theirmovement by gravity, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

34. The process of sizing comminutcd material, consisting in feedinga mixture of said materialV toa transversely inclined continu ously moving support, vibrating said support to increase the speed of travel of said particles thereon in'the direction of their natu al travel by gravity, subjecting said material in its movement by gravity to a progressively increasing resistance, andv separately collecting the' graduated particles.

35. The sizing of a mass of comminutcd materia, consisting in moving said material in one irection, su'bjectingsaid material to the force ofgravity and to vibrations, subjecting said material to a progressively increasing r'esistance in its movement by gravity, and separately collecting the thus separated particles.

36. The process of sizing comminutcd material, consisting in continuously moving said material in onedirection, subjecting said material to the force of gravity at an 4angle to the movement of said material, and

presenting to said material in the direction of travel by gravity, a progressively increasing resistance, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

37. The process of sizing a mass of unsized particles, consisting in continuously moving said particles in one direction, agitating said particles, subjecting said par! ticles to the action ci gravity at an angle to the continuous movement of the particles, exerting a gradually increased resistance on said particles in their movement by gravity to-cause the particles to move contiguous to one another in zones deviating from the continuous movement of the particles, and separately collecting the thus separated particles.

38. A sizing apparatus, having a continu ously moving'flexible endless belt provided with corrugations arranged at an angle' to .the movement of the belt, said corrugations vgaduallyincreasing 1n depth transversely thereof.

'39. The process 1of sizing a mass of material, consisting in continuously moving said material in one direction, agitating said material, subjecting said materal to'the force of gravity at an angle to the continuous movement of the material, to cause the different components of the mass to travel contiguously according to the sizes of the particle thereof, at different rates of speed in lines deviating from the line of continuous movement of said material, and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

movementgof.the'pulverized material, at anl Vvvhichgsaif materialis traveling, to cause par; "cleseef'said material to travel contigu ouslyinlinesldeviating from the line ofirouslymoving said materialvvhen dry', away fromthezpoint of feed, continuously"agitati ing said l"mass of material Without propel'- 'ling themateral, subjecting said materialfto thel force: vof gravity :tofcau'se the granularv ateito''theirfrelativeeines', van'el*'separately colf 40.A The'proc'ess of sizing a mass of comminuted material, consisting in continuouslyv moving the massief material away from the point'of feed inf one direction, subjecting the inassl to the lforce -of gravity, exerting a Yresistaneef:I to the l.mass vof particles in'ts movementby gravity, to cause the unpulverizedV particles"1to1travelv contiguously in `lineslleviating'ifrorn the line of gles proportionate totheir sizes, and sepa- 'rately collectingfthe so sized particleaf ih'lhe `preces'szof sizing a mass oaf-'par--` ticl'e's of, d-iEerentsizes, consisting in feed- '15\ `ing @aid particles on to a ,roughened survtacemoving eontinuouslyin :one direction,`

subjecting said :material in its continuous movement to the :torce of gravity at an angieV tothe continuous movement fof said m'a- 20 -terialvagitatingfsaid material' upon said-surface to'afiiztheiorceof gravit to overcome,-

the resistance/lof the roughene surface upon continuousniovernent at angles prop'iortion-4v lecting the 'gths sizedvparticles.:

42.3 flflie` process -of sizing a massv 'of 4mad 3o terialf-having@particles.' of different sizes,.-

consisting in feedingandcontinuously mov-l iA king said inattu'ial away from the pointflof: feedgingf one direction, er1 nitting the gcomf" ponents' of said` material to respond to' 'gravi i-*ity vsuiiiciently to cause the granular' parti-l' 'cles thereof, -to travel' contiguously .accorif ing'itozthe size of'tliep'articles thereof, at

` different rates iii?"speedy in-.lines at angles-toi thejeontinu'ous; fi'novementv of' said "material 40 prol'aorti'oned toitlieisizes of saidzcomponents,

` terial, consisting in feeding' and continu- -ously moving said material in dry conditionv away. from the point of i'eeol4 upon a continuously moving' transversely inclined.` rough- `sistance to said' material .in- :its `movement parately.v collecting A thefthus'sized.` par-v 'ay continuously moving inclined Toughened l Matese surface, agitating said surface tocaus'e the particles thereof to 4move contiguously'upon said surface in .lines deviating .in propoli tion to the sizes of said particles from the line of travel of the continuously*I noving surface,v and separately collecting the thus sized particles.

2 4A. The process. of

sizing comminuted maened supporting surfaoe, exerting a-resist ance to saidmaterial in its movement by gravity upon said vsupporting .surface to cause .the particles thereof to travel 'contiguously, agitating said materialupon said sup-g porting surface, to' aid the force of gravity to cause the particles thereof to travel 1n lines deviating proportionate. to 'their sizes yfrom the line of continuous movement of the maf.v terial', and separately collecting the thusV sized particles 45. The. process o i sizing a mass' o f'material, .consisting in feeding` and continusizes, tov deviate in lines from. the normal movement of, the material,v exerting a reby gravity to cause the`particles,thereofI to travel contiguously, and' ,separately collect-' ving ltlie thus sized particles.

In testimony 'whereof We aix. our. Signatures in presence of tvvo Witnesses. HENRY! M snrrou WALTER LSTEELE( 5l G.

Witnesses; l i' i' N. G. TURNEY, ll/i. OWEN. 

